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Lädt ... Something to Answer For (1968)von P. H. Newby
Lädt ...
Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. I have decided to take a stab at reading all the Booker Prize winners that I haven't yet read, so started with this, the first one. This book was a slow burn. I had trouble getting into it, and the confusion of the man who was allegedly telling his story in this book. Townrow is a scoundrel, but even he's can't remember what he did. There had to be a reason for him to be in Egypt in 1956. I like how the actual historical events are woven into this story, and I like the confusion of never knowing where Townrow is coming from. The book is brilliantly written, and the total import of the story didn't hit me until the end. It was then I realized what a scoundrel Townrow was. I am sure that this book is the work of a master manipulator, and a fine example of an unreliable narrator. I am really glad I read this early work, and am looking forward to more surprises in the lengthy list of Booker Prize winners. ( ) A former British soldier named Townrow returns to Port Said, Egypt in 1956 after being summoned by his friend's widow. She's convinced her husband, Elie Khoury, was murdered. Once in Egypt Townrow's reality is tenuous. He's not sure at times of his identity, his nationality or even whether he's still alive. A blow to the head, his friend's death, the nationalization of the Suez Canal and subsequent invasion by the British don't help. He also meets a woman who "changed the chemistry of his blood." Memory is integral to the story. Townrow's memory in particular. Events and timelines are muddled. "He must stop mis-remembering. He must clear his mind. What actually had happened?" An intelligent and skillfully written story with a great sense of time and place. Jack Townrow answers a plea for help from an Englishwoman living in Port Said he is acquainted with who believes her Lebanese husband was murdered. His first night in Port Said he gets drunk, is knocked unconscious and left for dead in the desert. The resulting injuries and concussion give him memory problems as he tries to piece together what happened to the deceased and to himself. I found this book annoying because I kept misreading Townrow (as the author continually referred to the character) as tomorrow and having to backtrack. I don't like inconclusive endings. It is always interesting to read Booker winners but I have rather mixed feelings about this one (the first). At face value it reads like a comic picaresque dream story, a confusing narrative set in Egypt during the Suez crisis, but it addresses wider issues of responsibility, national identity and the end of the British empire. keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
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P. H. Newby's seventeenth novel Something To Answer For was assured of a place in literary history when it won the inaugural Booker Prize in 1969. It was 1956 and Townrow was in Port Said - of these two facts he is reasonably certain. He had been summoned by the widow of his deceased friend Elie Khoury. She is convinced Elie was murdered, but nobody seems to agree with her. What of Leah Strauss, the mistress? And of the invading British paratroops? Only an Englishman, surely, would take for granted that the British would have behaved themselves. In this disorientating world Townrow must reassess the rules by which he has been living his life - to wonder whether he, too, may have something to answer for? 'Beautifully written, shot through with crisp, mordant wit, and Newby plays out his narrative with consummate skill.' Sam Jordison, Guardian Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999Klassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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